In the prior art, there are at present collapsible french fry scoops and serving containers which must be assembled from a collapsed position into an upstanding or modified condition prior to ingesting substantially measured quantities of french fried potatoes therein for the purpose of dispensing these measured quantities of potatoes to retail customers and the like.
Also, such prior art containers are not basically capable of standing upright but require sloping supports or other ancillary equipment at the point of purchase in order to properly present them to retail customers in fast-food establishments and the like.
The scooped out center portion of the sidewall blank forms the lowermost edge portion of the mouth of the scoop or skuttle configuration. The position of this lowermost edge portion defines the front of the container, thereby rendering the interior surface of the high back portion of the scoop, including the lapped side seam, the apparent obverse surface of the interior of the container.
For aesthetic reasons, when the supply of french fries or other food products in a container are substantially depleted by customer consumption, a vertical parallel line pattern printed or otherwise applied to the interior obverse surface of the container, with the pattern lines parallel to the side seam, is desirable. This pattern is oriented in a substantially similar manner to the elongated french fries and the lines are suggestively similar in configuration to the french fries. Thus, the container appears less empty to the consumer of the contents thereof at any given stage of consumption.
However, in forming such a pattern on the obverse interior surface of a frustoconical container of the present invention which is conventionally formed from the arcuate cup blanks of the present invention, blanked from continuously fed strip stock, the geometry of these blanks requires that the printing on the two surfaces of the strip stock be in full registry. This presents undesirable cost and quality control factors.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and novel combined scoop and french fry serving container.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and novel two-piece frustoconical scoop and serving container for french fries and the like in the form of a conventional paper cup with a scalloped upper edge.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a two-piece scoop and serving container which is self-supporting in an upright content-displaying position and which is stackable in a fully open and ready to use condition.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a printing method for providing a substantially vertical parallel line pattern over a major portion of the interior surface of a frustoconical container, parallel to the side seam, which obviates the need for registry of the patterns printed on opposite faces of the strip stock.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more fully apparent with reference to the following specification and drawings which relate to a preferred embodiment of the invention.